AFR100, an initiative to restore 100 million hectares of land in Africa, has added the Center of International Forestry Research (CIFOR) to its list of international technical advisors.

According the the AFR100 Secretariat, CIFOR was chosen to be a technical advisor thanks to the organization’s contributions to sustainable landscapes, forests and human and well-being and forest management and restoration in Africa. CIFOR also has two hubs in Africa – Kenya and Cameroon – and has been involved in several studies and projects in East, Southern and West Africa, and over the past five years, CIFOR has implemented 10 projects on reforestation and restoration in 15 countries in Africa.

“This partnership, bringing together CIFOR with the AFR100 group, will solidify our relationship and ensure our collaboration in tactical and strategic positioning in the context of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration,” said Robert Nasi, Director General of CIFOR.

AFR100 is a country-led, pan-African effort with 28 countries pledged to the cause. CIFOR joins a wide-ranging list of AFR100 technical advisors, which includes World Agroforestry, World Wildlife Fund and the Jane Goodall Institute.

The partnership aims to ensure effective alignment of CIFOR’s restoration activities within the AFR100 framework; maximize collaboration and knowledge sharing among partners and contribute to achieving AFR100’s restoration goals.

‘Decade of Ecosystem Restoration’

Recently the United Nations declared 2021-2030 as the ‘Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’, a call to action to mobilize political and financial support to restore the world’s deforested and degraded ecosystems. Worldwide, more than 2 billion hectares of land – an area larger than the South American continent – stand to be restored.

The Decade puts the spotlight on existing restoration goals, such as the Bonn Challenge, which aims to restore 350 million hectares of degraded ecosystems by 2030. To date, some 57 countries, subnational governments and private organizations have committed to bring more than 170 million hectares under restoration. It builds on regional efforts such as Initiative 20×20 in Latin America and AFR100.